Note: if after the update you notice any unexpected behavior in the web interface, just hit Ctrl-F5 in your browser; that will force the browser to reload the page as well as all back-end scripts and update the ones that may have been cached from previous versions of the software.

While in old versions of Syncplify.me Server! (v1-v3) impersonation capabilities were limited to either no impersonation at all or impersonating the logged-in Windows/AD user, the new Syncplify.me Server! v4 comes with a broader range of possibilities:

None: this is the default choice and it means that the underlying virtual file system (VFS) will be accesses with the same privileges as the Syncplify.me Server! system service (usually the SYSTEM user profile).

By Handle: this is available only when the user profile is a Windows or Active Directory user and it’s equivalent to the type of impersonation found in previous versions of Syncplify.me Server!, basically the user profiles that logged in is also used for impersonation.

By Windows or AD User: this allows you to log in as a normal, Windows or AD user, but then use a different Windows or AD user to access the underlying virtual file system (VFS). Yes, you can log in as normal user “johndoe” and then access your home directory as AD user “j.doe@mycompany.corp”.

By Network Share User: if your NAS has its own user database (which is not integrated with your Windows or AD user database) then you can use this type of impersonation to access paths on your NAS via UNC and authenticate on the NAS itself (ex: \\192.167.172.100\MyProtectedSharedFoloder).

On top of that, each virtual folder has its own impersonation settings, so you can access your home directory as SYSTEM, your “/private_docs” virtual folder as “j.doe@mycompany.corp”, and your “/CorpSharedDocs” folder on your NAS as “CorpNASUser”; all within a single Syncplify.me Server! user profile.

One of the main new features that come with Syncplify.me Server! v3.0 is true impersonation of Windows and Active Directory users.

Unlike previous versions, the new v3.0 actually impersonates the authenticated Windows or AD user and therefore accesses the underlying file system with such user’s privileges, limitations, and ACL. Syncplify.me Server!’s native file and directory permissions still apply, but they are applied only *after* the operating system rules, therefore they can further restrict the OS configuration, but not expand it (for safety reasons). Continue reading